Thrashing machine



July 14, 1931.

R. G. FLEMING 1,814,305

THRASHING MACHINE Filed Jam. 23, 1930 2 w .35 m @226 I J K Z6 I kwezziorjfozw 6? 2722222229 5 QWvW/Mr Patented July 14, 1931 ROBERT GRAHAMFLEMING, 0F

CHICO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO GUY H. HALL, O1

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS THRASHIQNG MACHINE Application filed January as,1930. Serial No. 422,792.

My invention relates to that class of thrashing machines in which thereis employed a rotary cylindrical brush with flexible wire bristles andco-operating with baifle plates spaced apart from each other withpockets between them, such, for instance, as illustrated in myapplication for patent .Serial No. 317,942, filed November 8, 1928, forharvesters.

The objects of my present invention are, first, to provide an improvedstructure of the battle devices whereby the grain being thrashed is heldin the path of action of the rotary wire brush for a short period oftime before entering the adjacent pocket, and, at the same time topermit threshed grain and chaff to pass into the pocket as soon as it isseparated from the heads or stalks, and to remove from the grains allportions of the hulls under such conditions as when the hulls are notthoroughly ripe or the straw is wet.

A further object is to provide improved means for forcing the stalks ofgrain into the space between the rotary brush and the first baffleplate, said means being so arranged that when a dry corn stalk, stiffweed or other similar article is being carried by the conveyor towardthe thrashing brush and engages the auxiliary feeding conveyor, theauxiliary conveyor will yield and thereby prevent injury to theconveyors.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the device,'whereby the objects contemplated areattempted, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in myclaims, and

illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

which:

Figure 1 shows a vertical, transverse sectional view of my improvedmachine.

Figure 2 shows an enlarged detail plan view of a part ofmy improvedbaffle device. Figure 3 shows an enlarged detail sectional view of myimproved bafile device on the line 33 of Figure 2. j Figure 4 shows adetail sectional view illustrating the yielding feature of the auxiliaryfeeding conveyor. v

- Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used the referencenumeral 10 to lndicate generally the frame of the thrashing device.Mounted in this frame is a large roller 11, around which there is passeda slatted conveyor 12.

' Adjacent to the roller 11 there is mounted a rotatable shaft 13, towhich is fixed a cylindrical brush having bristles 1 1 made of flexiblespring wire. Surrounding the top, rear,

and bottom portlons of the brush is a casing I 15, spaced apart from thebrush far enough to permit the accumulation therein of considerablequantities of grain and chafi", and to form with the bafiles hereinafterreferred to, a series of pockets 16.

The baflie devices each comprise a plate 17 fixed to the casing 15 andextended inwardly radially of the casing. It isthen bent and inclinedoutwardly and toward the receiving end of the casing to form a guideplate 18, the outer end of which is fixed to the casing 15.

A flat metal plate 19 which extends the full length of the member 17 isadj ustably secured to the member 17 by means of bolts 20 extendedthrough slots 21 in the plate 17 so that the outer edge of the plate 19may be adjusted to the desired position for defining the space betweenthe outer edges of the brush bristles and the baffle devices.

On the side of the plate 19' opposite from the plate 17, I have mounteda segmental shaped screen plate 22, extending the full length of thebattle device, and shaped to substantially conform to the contour of therotary brush. This plate is provided with a series of staggered openings23, which openings are large enough to permit grain and chaff to passreadily through it and also small heads or portions of heads ofunthrashed grain, and this plate 24 performs the double function of ascreen and a temporary retarding device.

The operation of the brush, bafiie plate. and pocket elements justdescribed is as follows: When grain to be thrashed is delivered to thebrush adjacent to the first inclined plate 18, this plate deflects thegrain to the space between the baffle device and the brush and the headsare-then temporarily retarded by the balfle device and held in the pathof action of of about 1,000 B. P. M. the action of the flexible wirebristles upon the grain when it is temporarily retarded by the bafiiedevice is such that nearly all of the hulls are removed from thekernels, and, in addition thereto, substantially all of the heads areremoved from the straws. After the heads pass the bafiie member 19, theyare then moved over will be engaged by such a considerable portion ofthe circumference of the brush that they will be carried with the brushright through the device without entering the pockets. It is true thatshort pieces of straw enter the pockets, but in practice substantiallyevery long straw passes through the entire device at the speed of thebrush movement and without being retarded in the pockets.

Such portions of the grains, chaff and heads as enter the pockets eitherthrough the openings 23 or the space between the screening and retardingplate 22 and the next bathe plate, are temporarily retarded in theirprogress through the machine and in practice the.

pockets are normally almost full of these materials. These materialsenter the pockets at the upper end and are gradually moved both bygravity and the frictional engagement of the brush bristles, toward thelower end, and then thin layers of these materials are thereby forcedfrom the delivery end of the pocket by the inclined .portion of thesecond bafiie device andare again presented to the action of the brushbristles, and when these materials are again presented to the brush, thematerials will be in a position relatively stationary as compared withthe rapidly moving bristles of the brush, so that the impact of therapidly moving bristles upon the stationary materials will have theeffect of removing hulls from the grains.

I have obtained very satisfactory results in my tests without the use ofthe combined screen and retarding plates and, hence, they are notessential to the successful operation of the machine.

In Figure 1 I have illustrated a large object. such. for instance, as astone, indicated by the reference numeral and this article is shown-aslodged between the second bafile device and the brush. The article isobviously much larger than the space between the bristles and thebaffles. In actual practice such articles, however, pass readily throughthe device without damage to the machine because the flexible springbristles of the brush spread apart far enough to receive such articleand the article is then carried to a delivery point while imbeddedbetween the bristles as illustrated in Figure 2, and after the articlehas thus passed through the brush, the bristles return to their normalposition because of their resiliency.

In practice it sometimes happens that large objects, such, for instance,as green. weeds, will be fed into the machine, the thickness of which isgreater than the space between the bristles and the baifle devices, andwhen this occurs, I have found that these large soft objects also imbedthemselves between the bristles and are carried through the machinewithout being retarded by the baflles and without entering the pockets,and when they pass out of the machine, they are not ground to a finepulp and mixed with the thrashed grain, due to the fact that the mainbody of such weed is imbedded between the bristles until the last bafllehas been passed ,and then it is discharged by centrifugal action.

In connection with large weeds or the like, I have found the plates 22to be advantageous in preventing the entrance of green weeds and thelike into the pockets and in retaining them imbedded in spaces betweenthe bristles.

For the purpose of forcing material to enter the space between the firstbafile device and the brush, I have provided a slatted conveyor 25,passing over to rollers 26 in a substantially horizontal plane andmoving in the direction of'the arrows as shown in Figure 1. One of therollers 26 is placed as near as possible to the first bafile device, andthe two rollers are placed on opposite sides of the top portion of thelarge roller 11, and one of therollers 26 is mounted upon movablebearings held away from the'other roller 26 by springs 27. The conveyoritself is madeof flexible material. The advantage of this structure isthat, as illustrated in Figure 4, when a large and unyielding object,such, for instance, as a corn stalk and indicated by the referencenumeral 28 in Figure 4, is carried upwardly and rearwardly by theconveyor 12, it will engage the lower surface of the conveyor 25 betweenthe rollers 26 and conveyor 25 will yield and then the spring mountedroller will also yield so that the article may go through withoutinjuring the conveyors.

After all the material has passed beyond the last bafile device, thismaterial is thrown with considerable force in the direction in- 4dicated by the arrow shown in Figure 1, and I have constructed thedevice so that the large roller 11 is directly in the path of thematerial being discharged from the last bafveyor are movlng downwardlyand forward-v ly at this point, all of the material is to ass-under theroller 11, or the purpose of separating substantial-. 1y all of the lonstraws from the combined grain and chaff, have'providd a transverse bar29 pivotally mounted on the side of the frame below the lower plate22'and fixed to this bar are a series of rods 30, only one of which isshown in Figure 1, and these rods are extended forwardly and downwardlywith their forward ends only engaging the conveyor 12. By thisarrangement, it is obvious that when the cross slabs on the con-' veyor12 engage the ends of these rods, they will force them downwardly, andthe will again be moved upwardly by the action of directed the spring31, so that said rods will be constantly vibrated b their engagementwith the cross slats, an preferably fixed to this bar 29, is a grain'pan32 to direct the 'chafi and grain into the conveyor 33, and by thisarrangement it is obvious that pan 32 will be vibrated to advance thematerial into the conveyor 12.

I claim as my invention: a

1. In a thrashing machine, the combination particles of the materialbeing operated on are temporarily retarded and again pre-' sented to theaction of the brush by the second baflie device, one of said bafiledevices being adjustable toward and from the brush, for the purposesstated. I

4- In a thrashing machine, the combination of a rotary cylindrical brushhaving flexible bristles, two bafile devices for directing materialtoward and temporarily holdingpt in the path of the brush, a pocketformed etween the bafile devices in which the smaller particles of thematerial being operated on prising an inclined plate for directingmaterial toward the brush, and an adjustable plate for defining thespace between the baffle device and the brush. I

ROBERT GRAHAM FLEMING.

of a rotary cylindrical brush having flexible bristles, two bafiiedevices for directing material toward and temporarilyholdingit in thepath of the brush, a pocket formed between the bafiie devices, in whichthe smaller particles of the material being operated on are temporarilyretarded and again presented to the action of the brush by the secondbaflle device, and a perforated retarding device, positioned adjacent tothe first baflie device and extending a short distance toward the second1 bafliedevice and located close to the brush,

for the purposes stated.

2. In a machine of the class described, the

' combination of a large roller, a slatted conveyor passing over theroller, a thrashing device for receiving material from the conveyor,means for directing the flow ofrmaterial passing through the thrashingdevice toward the central portion of the said large roller, whereby saidmaterial will be carried 7 by the slattedconveyor in the directionopposite to that from which it was delivered to the thrashing device, aseries of rods pivotally supported below the large roller and presentedto the slatted conveyor so that their ends only are engaged by theslatted con veyor, and yielding means for holding said rods toward theslatted conveyor whereby the action of the slatted conveyor engaging therods will cause them to vibrate. L

3. In a thrashing machine, the combination of a rotary cylindrical brushhaving flexible bristles, two baffle devices for directing materialtoward and temporarily holding it.

in the path of the brush, a pocket formed between the bafiie devices inwhich the smaller

